State Public Scientific and Technological Library of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences: the First Centenary

Abstract

The article describes the history of the State Public Scientific and Technological Library of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SPSTL SB RAS) — firstly the State Scientific Library (SSL), established in 1918 in Moscow and transformed into SPSTL SB RAS in 1958. The authors present the stages of its development and main achievements. The library developed its collections, publishing and educational activities, created the network of its branches practically in all industrial regions of the country. During the Great Patriotic war, the Library based its work on the priority satisfaction of the defence information needs. Despite the loss of holdings on the occupied territory, it developed the network of branches, setting the task of bibliographic service for the defence industry.In 1946, given general scientific importance of the Library, it was transferred to the USSR Ministry of Higher Education. The new status of the Library has forced to expand significantly its acquisition to technical literature, publications on natural science, social science and humanities. In 1958, the Library was transferred to Novosibirsk. Its main task became information support of scientific research; it developed its forms and methods, generated its own resources and actively engaged in the automation and informatization of library and information processes. Here the Library began to develop library science, bibliography, book science and applied informatics. In fact, the communication between the user and the library, the librarian and the information resource moves exclusively into the electronic environment. Over 60 years of activity in Siberia, the Library has become a unique scientific and cultural Siberian phenomenon, combining the features of the universal public library, the centre for scientific and technical information and the unified centre for automation of library and information processes of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.